G’day and welcome to your weekly edition of Overnight Success - your download on all the important things that have happened in the Aussie startup ecosystem. 🚀 Hope you’re having a great long weekend vibe-coding!!
👀 Headlines 👀
🏆 Koala, the mattresses and furniture retailer, has debuted on the ASX after raising $20M, with shares closing up 11.76% at $3.80 on an IPO price of $3.40. (Startup Daily)
This gives the online furniture retailer a market cap of more than $380 million. Cricketer Steve Smith, who invested $100k at seed in 2015, saw his stake close at $13.3 million on the opening day.
🤝 A deleted internal Slack post by Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht, comparing Anthropic's 73 product releases in 52 days against Canva's headcount, triggered layoff fears among staff and spilled onto the anonymous workplace platform Blind. (Capital Brief)
Melanie Perkins moved quickly to reassure employees, with a spokesperson confirming no redundancies are planned at the $61 billion AUD company.
The episode reflects broader anxiety across the Australian SaaS sector, where Atlassian, Block, WiseTech, Culture Amp, SafetyCulture and Employment Hero have all cut headcount in recent years.
Anthropic's head of global affairs told Parliament House this week that roughly 90% of the company's code is now written by Claude, adding fuel to the industry-wide anxiety about engineering jobs.
🤦 In a now-deleted LinkedIn post, the embattled founder of Kiki (the rental platform & social club in London), Toby Thomas-Smith, shared an emotional post that the company was being shut down as an April Fools joke.
The LinkedIn post, shared on April 1st, told the story of how Kiki has moved around the world after raising $5M, set up shop across NZ, Sydney, New York, and now London, but was unable to make the business economics work.
So, with a teary-eyed selfie, the founder has decided to shut down the company, declaring this “was not an April Fools joke” and that he would “not be responding to any media requests or comments as we’re still processing everything.”
Well, surprisingly, it didn’t go down well. The post was flooded with comments of concern and support. Samantha Wong, the Blackbird Partner, led the $9.5 million Seed round with a $7 million investment, awkwardly weighing in.
After a previous controversy, Wong wrote a special blog post following Kiki's pivot to a female-only club in NY, which caused a stir about inequity in funding for female founders.
On April 2nd, Toby went to LinkedIn again to declare that the previous post was a joke, but this post received mostly negative comments and was also deleted.
🚨 Big whoop: Macquarie Capital has joined a USD$575 million ($890 million AUD) Series G round in US wearable health platform WHOOP, which closed at a USD$10.1 billion valuation. (Capital Brief)
The round was led by Collaborative Fund and also includes Qatar Investment Authority, Mubadala, Abbott, Mayo Clinic, and individual investors Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James. (WHOOP)
WHOOP crossed USD$1.1 billion in annualised revenue at the end of 2025, up 103% year-over-year, and operated with a cash flow positive.
The company has more than 2.5 million members globally and is hiring for over 600 new roles this year to support R&D and international expansion into Europe, the GCC, Latin America, and Asia.
WHOOP has now raised more than USD $900 million in VC funding since its 2012 founding in Boston.
🛡️ The Canberra-based electronic warfare startup Panop, which is in early-stage fundraising, with soft commitments from Australian VC firms but actively seeking a European anchor investor, has taken to visiting the battlefield in Ukraine to network. (InnovationAus)
Founder Rhys Kissell, an ex-Navy electronic warfare specialist, recently visited Ukraine to meet with military and industry partners and gather battlefield data to inform Panop's two product lines: PlatypOS software and the Lyrebird software-defined hardware device.
Kissell says the European defence market is Panop's primary target, citing massive government spending, lower protectionism, and proximity to the conflict in Ukraine.
The company is developing dual-use technology across the electromagnetic spectrum, with both military and civilian applications.
Kissell said Kyiv is now swarming with US and European VCs backing defence tech companies with real-world combat experience.
🖊️ Anthropic signs MOU with Australian government to cooperate on AI safety research and support Australia's National AI Plan (Anthropic Announcement)
Dario Amodei met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra to formalise the agreement. An announcement was made regarding AUD$3 million in research partnerships with Australian institutions, focusing on disease diagnosis and computer science education. These include: ANU, Garvan Institute, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, and Curtin University
Australians are already among the most diverse Claude users globally, the most diverse of any English-speaking nation.
This follows the release of a report about Australia’s use of Claude, published by Anthropic during Dario’s visit. Here are my biggest takeaways from the report
Australians use Claude 4x more than their population size would predict, ranking 7th globally for per-capita AI adoption, only behind only Singapore, Israel, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the US, and Canada
NSW and Victoria are Australia's AI hotspots, accounting for 68% of all Claude conversations; every other state and territory underperforms on a per-capita basis. Resource-heavy Western Australia punch well below their weight despite having the highest incomes, suggesting workforce composition matters more than wealth. That might change when Claude can start digging for iron ore.
Australians are power users, not students. 46% of usage is work-related, 47% personal, and just 7% coursework, a profile that mirrors that of other high-income English-speaking nations.
Scaling your business globally?
Australia’s founders and businesses are building global companies from day one, but traditional banks make cross‑border money movement slow, expensive and manual.
Airwallex gives businesses a single platform to open global accounts, move money, and manage spend in multiple currencies without hidden FX fees or extra bank relationships.
Built for high‑growth businesses, Airwallex helps you pay overseas teams and suppliers, issue multi‑currency cards, and keep cash flow visible in real time so you can focus on product, customers and runway.
What you get:
A multi-currency business account with local details in key markets
Market-leading FX rates for global transfers and payouts
Corporate cards and spend controls for founders and teams
Open a free multi-currency business account in minutes.
⚡ Startup Retro ⚡
Rosella raises $5.7M pre-seed to re-engineer American insurance brokerage from scratch
Founders: Chris Dwyer and Sean Stuart
Rosella, an AI-native commercial insurance brokerage targeting the US market, has raised $3.7 million USD ($5.7 million AUD) in pre-seed funding co-led by Intact Financial Corporation's private capital arm and Singapore's Peak XV Partners.
The US commercial insurance brokerage market is worth $150 billion USD ($210 billion AUD), and private equity has spent years consolidating it at the expense of the customer. Thousands of independent brokerages have been rolled up, costs slashed, and smaller accounts deprioritised. The legacy software platforms underpinning most of these firms, Applied Epic and Vertafore, are 30 years old and largely incompatible with modern AI tooling.
Rather than acquiring and consolidating like PE, Rosella is building its tech stack from scratch. The platform uses AI to scan 2,000 insurance companies in real time, identify coverage gaps, and automate submission across more than 100 carrier portals — reducing the time to generate a certificate of insurance from 30 minutes to under two minutes. The target customer is "middle America" industries, truckers, construction firms, childcare centres, that have been squeezed out of attentive service by the roll-up wave.
Stuart's path to insurance started on a US highway. In 2023, he was one of four Australians running 3,300 kilometres from Florida to the Canadian border (a marathon a day for 80 days) as part of an endurance project called Mates vs States. The group couldn't secure insurance for the event, which meant that when Stuart contracted cellulitis and blood poisoning mid-run in South Carolina, he couldn't go to the hospital. Guided by his doctor parents via phone, he treated it with oral antibiotics and kept running. The team reached the Canadian border in 79 days.
The pre-seed capital will fund the hiring of 40 brokers across the US — a deliberate move Stuart frames as a "sales renaissance." This is a bet that AI handles the risk assessment grunt work, but human brokers remain essential for building relationships with the dispersed small-business owners Rosella is targeting.
Due Diligence: Forbes
Cauldron raises $19M Series A2 for continuous fermentation system
Founders: Michele Stansfield and David Kestenbaum
Cauldron, a biomanufacturing platform developing continuous fermentation systems for the food and chemical sectors, has raised $19 million AUD (US$13.25 million) in a Series A2 round led by Main Sequence Ventures, with participation from Horizon Ventures, SOSV, and NGS Super. The raise brings total funding to $37 million AUD (US$26 million) since the company was founded in 2022.
Breakthrough strains regularly emerge from the lab, but converting them into commercially viable, consistently produced ingredients and chemicals has remained stubbornly expensive and unreliable. Where conventional bioprocessing relies on batch fermentation — start, stop, clean, repeat — Cauldron's proprietary "hyper-fermentation" platform runs continuously. The result is a system that is more efficient, more predictable, and capable of operating at the volumes global supply chains actually require.
The company was the first to demonstrate industrial-scale continuous fermentation for synthetic biology strains at a 10,000-litre scale, and currently operates a 30,000-litre demonstration facility in Orange. It has worked with clients commercialising bio-based food ingredients, chemicals, and nutraceuticals.
Last week, the startup was named on Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in Asia-Pacific list. In mid-2025, it was recognised as a technology pioneer by the World Economic Forum, and in 2024, it secured $9.5 million in Series A funding alongside $4.3 million from the federal government's Industry Growth Program.
The fresh capital will be used to meet growing demand from governments and corporations investing in domestic biomanufacturing infrastructure. Cauldron is also in discussions with corporate partners to potentially retrofit existing facilities to deploy its technology at partner sites.
Due Diligence: SmartCompany
Arlula raises $3.4M to automate the missing layer in satellite data
Founders: Sebastian Chaoui and Arran Salerno
Arlula, a space-tech firm developing Earth observation data infrastructure for defence and intelligence applications, has raised $3.4 million in an oversubscribed round led by Paspalis Capital, with participation from Main Sequence Ventures, Startmate, and Moonshot. The raise builds on earlier backing from Lockheed Martin Ventures.
Despite rapid growth in satellite constellations, the systems used to task satellites, process their data, and integrate outputs into real-world operations remain largely fragmented and manual. In defence and emergency response scenarios, that friction has real consequences — intelligence that arrives days late may as well not arrive at all.
Arlula's Earth Observation Data Infrastructure (EODI) software automates satellite tasking and the processing, delivery, and application of its data. Its GeoStack platform gives governments and businesses access to virtual intelligence capabilities without requiring them to own satellites — coordinating access across multiple providers while managing end-to-end mission workflows. The company says its platform can cut processing times from days to minutes.
Rather than competing with satellite operators or analytics firms, Arlula positions itself as a coordination layer between the two — increasingly important as constellations expand and reliance on space-based data intensifies.
Arlula is already working with government and commercial clients across the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and North America, and has supported defence programs involving the US Space Force through its partnership with Saber Astronautics. The capital will be used to grow Arlula's engineering and product teams and support a rising pipeline of defence, government, and commercial work.
Due Diligence: Space Connect
Grub Lab raises $6M to bring big media brands to your local diner's kids' menu
Founders: Mick Carr
Grub Lab develops interactive kids' dining experiences for restaurants, combining AR-enabled menus, games, collectibles, and branded entertainment partnerships into a single platform. The company has secured partnerships with the NBA, NFL, Sony Pictures, and Universal Pictures — and is now setting its sights on a nationwide US launch. The company has now raised $6 million from Quantaco to take it global.
Independent restaurants have long been outgunned when it comes to the kids' dining experience. Big chains like McDonald's and Burger King have the licensing deals, the branded promotions, the toys. A five-unit concept in Atlanta or a family diner in Alabama has had no equivalent way to compete for the family occasion. Grub Lab's pitch is that it doesn't have to stay that way.
The platform lets restaurants offer branded, interactive kids' menus tied to major sports leagues and entertainment franchises. Via QR codes, diners unlock augmented reality experiences, mini-games, and exclusive offers — refreshed with new collectible menus every few months to drive repeat visits. The product is designed to require no additional work from restaurant staff.
The $6 million raise will fund Grub Lab's US market expansion and national brand launch, underpinned by its growing roster of entertainment and sports partners.
Due Diligence: Startup Rise
Future Maintenance Technologies (FMT) secures $8M to build robots to maintain heavy hardware
Founders: Owen Plagens, David Philpot, Saad Khan, Ben McKelvey and Loic Ayoul
Future Maintenance Technologies (FMT), a Brisbane-based autonomous inspection and maintenance robotics company, has raised $8 million in its first external funding round, led by QIC Ventures with participation from superannuation fund Brighter Super and Sydney-based technology investor Taronga Group. The round values the five-year-old startup at approximately $40 million.
The founding idea came directly from the job. CEO Loic Ayoul was general manager of engineering and asset management in Downer's rail division when he couldn't hire enough people to keep up with inspection demands. "If you're inspecting trucks or bridges, you're working at night with a torch, so good luck attracting people if they have options," he said. He and four Downer colleagues, David Philpot, Ben McKelvey, Owen Plagens, and Saad Khan, set out to remove humans from those environments entirely.
FMT's autonomous robots and drones use cameras and sensors to inspect tracks, rolling stock, and stations. The data is then analysed by AI to predict when maintenance is needed — shifting the model from reactive repair to predictive servicing.
The company has also developed a robot for Rio Tinto with mechanical arms capable of replacing brake blocks on the iron ore trains that run between the Pilbara mines and port. Rio Tinto's workers previously replaced 200,000 to 300,000 brake blocks manually per year on a single rail line. The $8 million will be used to expand FMT's team of 30 and accelerate international growth across its existing client base and new markets.
Due Diligence: AFR
🧑🤝🧑 People Moves🧑🤝🧑
👀 Airwallex taps Elana Rubin AM as independent chair of its Australian board, bringing heavyweight governance credentials from Afterpay, AustralianSuper, the RBA, Telstra, and Dexus. Former NZ PM Sir Bill English also joins the Australian board as an independent non-executive director, days after being named chair of Airwallex's newly formed NZ board. (Airwallex Announcement)
Airwallex now serves 40,000+ Australian businesses, including Qantas, Canva, CultureAmp, and Afterpay — processing $39B in payments annually
The fintech powers nearly 40% of Australia's digital and tech sector, cementing its position as the backbone of the country's startup economy
AI is the next frontier for Airwallex, with the company embedding it across payments, treasury, and spend management to help businesses automate financial ops and optimise working capital
❤🩹 WA's $574M health research fund bolsters its advisory council with two new appointments as it prepares to deploy a further $292M over the next four years (Startup News)
Professor Dan McAullay joins to lead on Aboriginal health — the Edith Cowan University Dean is a nationally recognised figure in culturally informed health research
Tech veteran Marie Smyth rounds out the pair, bringing 35+ years across government, industry, and global tech partnerships to strengthen the fund's innovation translation agenda
The FHRI Fund has already deployed $282M to 810+ recipients since its launch in 2020. The next phase nearly doubles its cumulative footprint to $574M.
🤝 M&A 🤝
🤝 New Zealand startup advisory firm Oxygen Advisors has been acquired by Singapore-based compliance and payroll platform Multiplier, marking the acquirer's sixth global acquisition. Terms were not disclosed. (Startup Daily)
Oxygen, founded by Matt Dold in 2015, has more than 50 staff across three countries and has worked with over 300 startups, including Tracksuit, Auror, and Letterboxd, helping them raise more than $800 million in capital.
The full Oxygen team is joining Multiplier, with Dold continuing as director and gaining access to Multiplier's Silicon Valley and Singapore tech teams.
Multiplier is backed by Ribbit Capital and Lightspeed Ventures, and was founded by former Stripe exec Noah Pepper, who previously sold a company to Twitter.
🚀 Wins 🚀
3️⃣ Three Australian women have been named 2026 Cartier Women's Initiative fellows, joining 27 global peers at the program's 20th anniversary celebration in Bangkok this June. AUD$275,000 in grant funding is up for grabs at the Bangkok event, with first, second, and third place awardees taking home cash to scale their impact (Forbes)
All 30 fellows get access to INSEAD business training and leadership coaching as part of the program, regardless of where they place. Here are the Australian participants.
Alexandra Cannizzaro's Platform Zero is digitising fresh produce supply chains — connecting growers directly to retailers to cut waste, with 43,000kg of produce diverted from landfill and 27,000kg of CO₂ emissions saved so far
Ruby Riethmuller's Womn-Kind tackles the mental health crisis facing young women, with a preventative education platform now active in 37 countries — 60% of its 30,000 users are in regional and remote areas
Rosie Dumbrell's Everform Therapywear is building medical-grade compression garments for women living with incontinence and prolapse, replacing disposable pads with a sustainable alternative.
📖 Sydney-based edtech startup Pustakh wins Product of the Day on PeerPush, the product discovery platform for indie makers and startups (peerpush)
Pustakh is a next-generation learning platform designed to transform the way people engage with non-fiction. Instead of simply condensing books into quick summaries, Pustakh helps readers translate powerful ideas into meaningful action.
Pustakh also advances to Phase 2 of the WE4G 2026 Accelerator, a globally competitive program run by the Women's Forum for Economy and Society in partnership with HEC Paris.
📆 Notice Board 📆
💻 "Build. Ship. Vibe." is a full-day vibe-a-thon for founders who want to go from idea to working MVP in a single day out of the Cremorne Digital Hub on the 15th of April
From idea-stage founders with zero technical experience, to early-stage builders wanting faster iteration, to established teams prototyping their next concept
Tools and experts in the room, including v0, AWS, technical solution architects, prompt experts, and VC partners. Register for free here!
Would you like to promote an event or an opportunity? Enquire about a Notice Board promotion by replying to this email.
🧠 KaaS (Knowledge as a Service)
The 2016–2021 era saw a global startup boom, with non-US companies briefly outpacing American ones in venture funding — but that window has closed.
AI is driving a dramatic re-concentration of investment in the US. In 2024, US AI firms captured 75% of all global AI investment ($194B), nearly half of all private venture funding worldwide.
The physical infrastructure AI requires, data centres, chips, water, and electricity, demands capital that most of the world simply doesn't have, giving American (and to a lesser extent Chinese) companies a structural advantage that's very hard to overcome.
Countries like India are trying to build sovereign AI ecosystems, but are struggling. Several high-profile Indian AI startups have collapsed or underperformed, hampered by smaller funding rounds. Africa is in an even more difficult position. The continent has less than 1% of global data centre capacity, fewer than 45 AI startups founded since 2023, raising under $40M combined.
China's heavily subsidised AI industry (including the free DeepSeek model) is filling some of the gap, particularly in Africa — but this just replaces one form of foreign dependency with another.
It appears whoever owns the foundational AI infrastructure becomes the "kingmaker" for everyone who depends on it.
Have we missed something? Got some feedback? We love emails, so send one over!
👔 Connect with me on LinkedIn: Overnight Success, Will Richards
📈 Want to invest in great startups? Join Australia’s friendliest investment syndicate here, where small cheques are welcome!
Want better startup data? Check out our startup deals database, used by VCs, founders, and business development teams to stay across all high-signal data.
🚀 Want to get your product or offering in front of ~5,200 founders, investors and operators building scaling startups? Email us to learn more about our sponsorship and partnership opportunities.
❤ Getting a bunch of value from OS and want to support our growth? Consider becoming an OS Superhero.
‘Til next time,
👋 Will